It's definitely frustrating that the Chicago deposit is due mid April. It's the same day as the last day of Berkeley's ASW (April 15th) and then for people who are also in Stanford (not me) don't even have ASW until that following weekend.

Well, I'm a Chicago troll, but both schools have similar placement and Chicago's a much cheaper city to live in. Unless you're NYC or bust I'd pick Chicago.

I very well might be accused of drinking the coolaid, but it seems like Chicago's placement per capita is better than NYU's by a considerable margin.

Edit: Also deciding between NYU and Chi (and UVA), so I'm just mentioning it because it's something pulling me to Chi

Haha, no worries. I could definitely be accused of drinking the coolaid as well. I think it's hard to compare employment data generally because of self-selection and what not. Chicago does seem to consistently place a bit better into big law, but that's probably explained largely by PI placement at NYU. There might be a difference in placement, but it's probably not considerable. Chicago does seem to place better in academia though.

It should be noted that I think Chicago's LRAP is better than NYU's (or UVA's). Same income cap, without including other assets, includes clerkships and gives reverse-amortization assistance after 5 years if getting out of PI? Awesome.

Re: NYU/Chicago/Columbia decision - Peer schools are peer. If you very much want to live in Chicago or New York, I think that can help with the decision (for example, I knew I absolutely did not want to live in New York for law school), but absent a strong desire, I think following the money is generally credited. Because of the Rubenstein, Chicago has been extremely generous with scholarships, so I would consider money from here very seriously. icedflames, your numbers look like they could get you substantial money from Chicago, so if that happens I would probably say Chi is the best bet. If you were to get an RTK or AnBryce or something from NYU, I'd tell you to go there.

TL;DR: debt is scary, even from a great school, and I think scholarships are one of the most important factors in choosing between schools with similar placement power.

Checking in. Does anyone know what the job prospects look like for the Boston area? I'm from Boston and would like to go back and practice there, but don't know whether the low placement (2%) in that area is due to self selection or not. Any insight is appreciated.

kerrigaa wrote:Checking in. Does anyone know what the job prospects look like for the Boston area? I'm from Boston and would like to go back and practice there, but don't know whether the low placement (2%) in that area is due to self selection or not. Any insight is appreciated.

This isn't super-helpful, but my best guess is that it's self-selection. I can't think of anyone in our 1L class from Boston (unless you count the Harvard/Tufts undergrad people) so I don't think many people want to go there to practice. The main places I hear people wanting to practice are Chicago, NYC, and California. So while I can't give you any positive information about ease of getting a job in Boston, I certainly don't think the 2% placement there is because people wanted Boston jobs but couldn't get them.

Quick question for those of you familiar with Chicago. I'm looking for a hotel to stay at during the ASW and I noticed that most of the ones in the downtown area are kind of pricey. I want to broaden my search to other areas but I don't know what public transit is like in Chicago and I don't want to pick somewhere that makes traveling to the law school too complicated. What are some good areas outside of "the loop" that might be a bit cheaper but still in reasonable reach by public transit?

curiouscat wrote:Quick question for those of you familiar with Chicago. I'm looking for a hotel to stay at during the ASW and I noticed that most of the ones in the downtown area are kind of pricey. I want to broaden my search to other areas but I don't know what public transit is like in Chicago and I don't want to pick somewhere that makes traveling to the law school too complicated. What are some good areas outside of "the loop" that might be a bit cheaper but still in reasonable reach by public transit?

You'll want to be kind of careful in terms of public transportation. At night especially, you shouldn't take the El into Hyde Park (or so we've been told; you obviously can if you feel comfortable). The 2 (bus) goes directly to the law school during certain hours, and the 6 (bus) gets you pretty close. The Metra is also a good option. If you go farther north than the loop, you're looking at transfers to get down here, so that could be tricky.

Xifeng wrote:You'll want to be kind of careful in terms of public transportation. At night especially, you shouldn't take the El into Hyde Park (or so we've been told; you obviously can if you feel comfortable).

Really? Is that backed up by your experience? I've heard the areas off campus were sketchy at night but is it that bad? I'll see how I feel at ASW I guess.

Xifeng wrote:You'll want to be kind of careful in terms of public transportation. At night especially, you shouldn't take the El into Hyde Park (or so we've been told; you obviously can if you feel comfortable).

Really? Is that backed up by your experience? I've heard the areas off campus were sketchy at night but is it that bad? I'll see how I feel at ASW I guess.

I personally have not taken the El after dark because we were told not to/I live on the other side of Hyde Park. But I've been told that the Green Line/Red Line are sketch (and one of my friends who took the Red Line at 1 AM was full of regret). The buses are generally thought to be better options.

It's also only a $15 cab ride from Hyde Park to downtown, which isn't that bad (especially when split).

Xifeng wrote:You'll want to be kind of careful in terms of public transportation. At night especially, you shouldn't take the El into Hyde Park (or so we've been told; you obviously can if you feel comfortable).

Really? Is that backed up by your experience? I've heard the areas off campus were sketchy at night but is it that bad? I'll see how I feel at ASW I guess.

I personally have not taken the El after dark because we were told not to/I live on the other side of Hyde Park. But I've been told that the Green Line/Red Line are sketch (and one of my friends who took the Red Line at 1 AM was full of regret). The buses are generally thought to be better options.

It's also only a $15 cab ride from Hyde Park to downtown, which isn't that bad (especially when split).

It might be different after midnight, but I took both the red and green after dark and it wasn't anything. Sure I saw a drug deal go down, but that's about it.